


Where Things Get Lost

by incognitostarkbaratheon



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Gendrya Big Bang, Happy Ending, Parallel Dimension, Pocket Dimension, Science Fiction, gendrya bigbang 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:35:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24909292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/incognitostarkbaratheon/pseuds/incognitostarkbaratheon
Summary: Arya and Gendry move to an old and slightly weird house with low rent to save money for their own home. Things get lost easily but everything seems normal until Arya suddenly disappears inside the house.Will Gendry be able to reach her? And more important, will he be able to get her back before it's too late?Inspired by the episode “Little Girl Lost” of the classic The Twilight Zone series.
Relationships: Arya Stark/Gendry Waters
Comments: 38
Kudos: 38





	1. Lost Things

**Author's Note:**

> This story is my contribution to the Gendrya BigBang 2020.
> 
> Huge thank you to **harrenhollaback** for the beautiful artwork, you rock!

“I think this is the last one, what’s next?” Gendry closed a door in one of the cupboards and took the empty cardboard box with the words ‘Glasses and Mugs’ written in one of the sides to put it in a corner next to other three.

“That’s all, at least downstairs. We can finish the rest tomorrow.” Arya looked at Gendry moving the box and kept organising the cutlery drawer.

“It didn’t take as long as I thought it would.”

“Maybe because we don’t have enough stuff to fill this house.”

Gendry approached Arya to hold her waist from behind and place a kiss on her shoulder. “You still think this place is too big?”

“It is for the rent we are paying.” She finished with the drawer, closed it and turned around to play with her husband’s hair. “Did you say Mr Callahan is sick?”

“Yes, his daughter told me she wants the extra money to help paying for the clinic and she also wanted someone to look after the house, he’s been gone for a while now.”

“Did she say something else about her father’s condition?”

“It is some kind of paranoia. Apparently he is afraid of disappearing.”

“Disappearing?” Arya exclaimed, half intrigued and half sad.

“That’s what she said; he even agreed to go get treatment willingly.” Gendry held Arya closer to touch her forehead with his. “Look, we just have to keep saving for our own home. Two more years, tops.”

“Yeah, I know. It just feels empty, it’ll be fine once we get used to it.”

-/-/-

The house had a little more than the basic furniture, but not much. Exploring it was a continuous mixture of minor curiosity and weird details. The first one Arya noticed was the five cm separation between the furniture and the walls in the main bedroom. She didn’t know what that meant but didn’t think too much about it, some people had strange habits, that was all.

Other thing that caught her attention was the lack of decorations around the house. Arya understood the absence of pictures; those would be with Mr Callahan’s personal items, stored in the basement according to his daughter. But there was nothing, not even a mirror or a piece of art.

A few days after their arrival, Gendry took to the basement a box with the few things they didn’t need to have upstairs and Arya went down with him, just to explore.

As they were expecting, there were a good amount of boxes, properly labelled with the area of the house they belonged to and covered with fabric to protect them from dust.

Curiously enough, the boxes were in the middle of the room instead of against a wall, but by then they were used to see funny things like that around the house and didn’t mind the weird placement.

The only object not packed was a long rope thrown over some of the boxes. It looked like someone had left it there in a hurry, not even bothering on putting it under the fabric.

Arya took the rope to have a closer look. It had lines at uneven intervals, made with what looked like an indelible marker.

“Those are interesting markings.” Gendry touched one of the lines, not really knowing what else to say.

“Yeah, what do you think they mean?”

“I don’t know, maybe he had a project or something.”

“I guess so.” Arya looked at the rope for one more moment, then gently touched Gendry’s arm while turning around. “Let’s go, dinner will be ready in a few minutes.”

Gendry followed his wife without a second look to Mr Callahan’s belongings.

-/-/-

One morning about a month later, Gendry raised his head after looking under the sofa and sighed while still sitting in the floor. “Arya, have you seen the screwdriver I was using yesterday?” He had been searching around the living room for 15 minutes at that point.

“No, where did you see it last?” Arya answered from the small conservatory, where she was trying to restore some life into the few plants still fighting to survive.

“Here!” He exclaimed, raising his arms as if Arya could see him.

“Then it must be somewhere in there. Wait a minute, I’m almost done.”

“No, it’s fine.” Gendry stood up and went looking for Arya instead. “I just wanted to finish adjusting the cabinet’s door. I have to leave for work anyway.”

He kissed Arya and walked out of the house, already thinking about how busy his day was going to be.

-/-/-

A week later, it was Arya’s turn to be the one not finding something. The small hairbrush she usually took in her bag was nowhere to be found. The incident annoyed her but Arya didn’t have time to think about it. If she didn’t leave, she would be late for work and she hated being late.

“I will find it later.” She whispered to herself before leaving the house.

-/-/-

As the days passed, more things seemed to not be there anymore. A bracelet here, a sock there, nothing important enough to worry, but often enough to make Arya notice.

She and Gendry had been married for over two years now and living together for almost four years. In all that time, Arya didn’t remember anything being misplaced for more than a day. They were not super tidy but they usually knew where their things were.

One night, Arya decided to tell Gendry how strange the whole thing was. She knew her husband could be clueless sometimes, but they needed to be in the same page to come up with a plan.

“Did you ever find the screwdriver?” Arya asked.

“No, I used a smaller one that night and didn’t think about it anymore.”

Arya nodded. “So, what do you think?”

“Maybe we have a ghost.” Gendry used the most serious tone he could manage but he was clearly joking.

“Gendry!” Arya exclaimed, trying to sound annoyed, but eventually smiled while shaking her head.

Gendry smiled as well, then considered his answer for a moment. “I don’t know what is going on here, but we will have to be more careful with our stuff. Put things back on their place after using them and don’t leave anything lying around the house. Hope that solves the problem.”

“Yeah, that’s the same I’ve been thinking.” Arya still had her doubts, but there was nothing they could do about it.

Gendry held Arya and kissed her forehead. “Don’t worry, we will sort this out.”

“I know,” she answered, resting her head on Gendry’s shoulder.

-/-/-

The strategy seemed to work because the following weeks went by without incidents. Arya made some minor changes to make the house feel more like a home and they finally were able relax.

Gendry was happy he had the chance to use his tools to keep the house in good shape and Arya didn’t dread going back home from work every night. They even invited Hot Pie and Lommy for dinner and had a good time.

Hot Pie immediately fell in love with the size of their kitchen. “You will have to let me cook for you one day; you know the kitchen in my flat is an eggshell.”

“I’m not stopping you my friend, you are welcome to do that any day you want.” Arya exclaimed, raising her arms a little bit and making everyone laugh.

“Hahaha, I will then! As soon as I have a few free days.” Hot Pie answered with a big smile.

“Yeahhh!” This time it was Gendry the one celebrating with his arms in the air.

Arya looked at her husband with a smile on her face, thinking for the second or third time since they arrived that maybe spending two years in that house wouldn’t be so bad after all.

-/-/-

Arya arrived to the house one night feeling tired. It hadn’t been a bad day but she had to be on her feet for most of it and her shoes were already killing her.

She went straight to their room to put on something more comfortable and after using the bathroom, Arya went back downstairs to pour herself a glass of juice, only to discover that the electric bulb in the kitchen wasn’t working anymore.

Arya groaned, knowing she would have to change the bulb before she could sit down and relax.

She climbed the stairs again; the closet where they stored stuff like batteries, extra cables and spare bulbs was almost at the end of the hallway.

Arya opened the door and remembered the bulbs were in the top shelf, which of course was, to her utter annoyance, out of her reach.

“Damn it!” She exclaimed between her teeth.

Arya walked to one of the spare rooms to take the stool they kept there and walked back to the closet. She placed the stool in front of the opened door and stood on it to take the box with bulbs. She pulled it, not realising it was holding in place a bag with a bunch of duct tapes. The bag fell down, almost hitting Arya’s face.

She lost her balance and fell back; instinctually trying to shift her body so she didn’t hit her head against the wall behind her.

The stool hit the floor with a dry sound, followed by the bulbs, half of them cracking inside the box and the fully opened bag with duct tapes, spreading its content all over the carpet.

But Arya didn’t fall along with the other things; she wasn’t even there to see the mess. She was gone.

-/-/-

Gendry opened the door wondering if Arya had received his messages. He had to stay back at work for a couple of hours and had texted her three times. First to let her know he was going to be late, then to ask if everything was OK. Sometimes Arya took a few minutes to answer because she was busy, but she always texted him back, either with a joke, a ‘Be careful on your way back’ or a simple ‘OK, I love you.’

This time however, her message never arrived and he was hoping it had been only a technical malfunctioning, like a dead battery.

“Arya, I’m home!” Gendry exclaimed, but there was no reply.

The lights on the living room were on but that was all. Gendry climbed the stairs to go to their room, thinking he would find Arya napping. He turned the light on; the only thing on sight was Arya’s bag in the middle of the bed. Gendry stared at it for a moment before walking out of the empty room to get closer to the bathroom.

“Arya?” He asked to the closed door.

Gendry waited for a few seconds but no answer came out. He opened the door, no one was there. He was closing the door again when he perceived the mess in the other side of the hallway with the corner of his eye.

He approached the closet, starting to feel worried. Gendry didn’t like the look of this; Arya wouldn’t leave a mess like that unattended for no reason, not with how easily things got lost in this house.

Gendry took his phone out of his pocket to call his wife and the faint sound of her ringtone reached him from their bedroom. He walked back, trying to locate the sound; the phone was inside her bag.

He ended the call and went back to the top of the stairs. “Arya, where are you?” This time he spoke louder, but again, he received no answer.

“What is going on?” Gendry muttered to himself, then turned around to check the entire house, just in case an accident happened and she was unable to speak.

First, Gendry went back to the bathroom to see behind the shower curtain, nothing. He checked the floor on Arya’s side of the bed that wasn’t visible from the door and under the bed, nothing. The only thing out of place in the first spare room was the stool still lying on the hallway’s floor. Gendry moved a couple of duct tapes to reach the second spare room, it was empty.

Once downstairs he checked the living room again, then the dining room. The kitchen’s light was not working. “That explains the bulbs,” Gendry said, more to keep himself calm than anything else.

It wasn’t the darkest room but Gendry used the light on his phone to illuminate the door of the fridge. Sometimes they left each other notes there, but this time there were only a few magnets with the shapes of different animals and the only paper hanging from one of them was a short list of groceries needed. Gendry sighed and kept looking.

The downstairs bathroom was the closest one, it was empty. Then the study, there was a heavy oak desk near the only empty wall and two individual heavy looking bookshelves almost against each of the other walls. Gendry imagined that at some point, the room would have been full of books and papers; it would have been nice to see it like that.

Next was the conservatory, just some pieces of unused garden furniture and a bunch of half dead plants here and there.

Across the room, a door gave access to a backyard. It was a small place and there was nothing apart from recently cut grass, but Gendry checked it anyway.

He went back to the house, walked to the door across the conservatory and opened it to go down the basement, the only place left. He walked around, making sure he looked behind the boxes and under the stairs. Once again, nothing.

Gendry returned to the living room where the phone’s signal was stronger while looking for Arya’s work number. It was a long shot, but maybe one of her co-workers could tell Gendry if she was feeling ill or something. He was about to call when a sound made him look up.

He had just heard Arya’s voice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this one is my first attempt to science fiction, I hope you like it!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!
> 
> Please, let me know what you think of the first part.


	2. The Other Side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gendry tries to find the way to help Arya while she gets acquainted with her surroundings and starts showing some worrying symptoms.

Arya fell face down on an uneven surface, if ‘uneven’ was a word she could use to describe it. The ‘floor?’ was bumpy and didn’t feel stable. The first word that came to her mind was ‘quicksand,’ but discarded the idea because she could feel soft, hard and even sharp surfaces in different points. She lifted her head a little bit and opened her eyes, except from a light coming from somewhere above her, the place was dark as well.

Her body ached already but Arya needed to turn her body around and try to sit. Her left hand searched for a spot she could use to support herself and pushed. Something pointy hurt one of her knees, but Arya kept going until she managed to shift her body and achieve a sitting position.

She looked around, wondering where she was. The light source was maybe 3 metres above her, Arya wasn’t sure. It had an irregular shape, like a pond floating in the middle of nowhere and it looked like it was slightly inclined to one side, reminding Arya of those trapdoors in attics or floors when they are barely opened.

The brightness was similar to what would come from the open door of a room with the light on, if the rest of the house was dark. It was not particularly strong, but enough to see the area around her.

There was a thin layer of mist very close to the ‘floor.’ She ventured her hand through it, which made her shiver. Arya didn’t notice the coldness surrounding her until that moment, but now she felt it, she knew she wouldn’t be able to get rid of it.

Her left hand grabbed some pieces of whatever the ‘floor’ was made of and was shocked at what she saw.

“What the hell!” Arya exclaimed, creating some echo in the open space.

She was holding a sock, a Halloween pumpkin ornament and a pencil. Arya allowed the items to fall and grabbed something else, an old looking clock and a tube of already dry toothpaste. She tried in the other side; her right hand took a necklace, definitely not one of hers, and a spoon. One last try brought her a piece of caramel, still wrapped in shiny yellow paper and… her brush, the one she had lost weeks ago.

“Aghhhh!” Arya groaned, as she suddenly realised what was going on. “This is where the lost things go; this is why we can never find them.”

Arya raised her head, her eyes had adjusted to the dim light by then and she could see the endless empty space with innumerable fields, covered by lost things. And in the sky, or at least Arya thought it was a sky since she couldn’t see any ceiling, hundreds, or even thousands of openings like the one above her. The farthest ones looked like twinkling stars, but she could distinguish different shapes and sizes in the ones closer to her.

“This is what Mr Callahan was afraid of, falling in here and not being able to get out.” Arya looked up, the opening was well beyond her reach and for a moment, she panicked. “Fuck!” She said.

Arya put her head between her legs and breathed deeply a few times to regain her calm. It took her a minute but she finally raised her head again. “No. I have to get out. Think, Arya, think.”

This whole situation was mad, like being inside a sci-fi movie, but she tried to look at it in a logical way. After a few moments she started talking, hearing her own voice made her jump at first, but also made her feel a little more relaxed. Not much, but a bit.

“OK, Plan A, the hopeful one. I’ve been here for maybe 5 minutes, which means Gendry will come back in about 45. If I scream and he hears me, he will be able to help me from outside and everything will be fine. But if he can’t hear me, then Plan B, the tricky one. I have to find the way to pile up enough stuff to get out myself.” She stopped for a moment to take another deep breath and look down. “Damn, I hope Plan A works because building something remotely stable with this crap will be a nightmare.”

As if it wanted to challenge her, the opening flickered and started shrinking. Arya watched in terror how, within two or three minutes, the pond of light got smaller and smaller until it finally disappeared with a snap.

“No, no, no, no, no, please no!” Arya yelled at the darkness above her. She had managed to keep calm up until that point but couldn’t do it anymore. She allowed herself to unleash the fear and frustration she was feeling.

“Aaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!” Arya screamed as hard as she could, her own voice echoing with no barriers to stop it. “Stupid place! Stupid place! STUPID PLACE!!!”

Arya also threw a few things, whatever was more at hand. A couple of objects bounced before getting lost, the rest fell flat somewhere in front of her with a hollow noise.

After a couple of minutes, Arya started thinking again and forced herself to stop. She didn’t want to drain the energy she still had, that would make things even more difficult and was the last thing she needed.

She cleaned the tears she had on her eyes and closed them to think, trying to remember all the knowledge she gathered through years of sci-fi series and movies. All those details she always thought were useless could potentially save her life now, so she made an effort to be reasonable about this mess. Once Arya was ready, she started talking again.

“Right, you have two options, go to a different opening or stay here.” Arya paused, trying to express herself with clarity. “If you go, you have to mark this spot first to not lose it, but even if you find the way to reach another opening and get out, there is no warranty you will come out in the house. You could end up stranded in a completely different place, or worse, somewhere unsafe.”

She took a deep breath and kept going. “If you stay here and the opening never appears again, you risk losing precious time just waiting. But, I don’t think so. If Mr Callahan was so scared of this, it means it happens often and there’s a good chance the opening will appear again. Besides, you can use the time to collect things to stack.”

Arya considered her options and opted for the second one. She turned to her right to search for something useful and after discarding a few items, she found an old book. It was big and relatively heavy, perfect for the bottom of the pile.

“Yes!” Arya celebrated. She held the book with her right arm and kept looking.

The almost complete darkness made the task difficult and the lack of suitable objects made it infuriating, but Arya kept going. After a while, Arya had found a second book, newer and smaller but still strong, a medium size bucket she was planning to fill with smaller things to make it heavier and a shirt that had obviously seen better days but would be useful if she needed to tie something.

-/-/-

Arya was focused on what she was sure was a lunch box, covered with a bunch of colouring pencils and paper sheets when she heard a snap above her. She immediately looked up and breathed with relief when she saw a crack of light appearing out of nowhere. Arya waited, hoping it will grow as big as the last one, but was disappointed when it stopped after reaching the size of a tennis ball.

Frustration threatened to take over again but Arya pushed it back.

“It opened again, that is a good thing.” Arya said to reassure herself. She took a deep breath and yelled to the light. “Gendry!!!”

Her hopes crashed when she didn’t receive an answer, but she wasn’t willing to give up yet. “Gendry, help!!!” She yelled a second time. Still nothing, but she had to stop to catch her breath. 

Arya managed to call Gendry a couple more times until the opening closed again. It had been there for maybe four or five minutes and was too small, but it had returned and that was the important thing. That was enough to recharge Arya’s determination. She looked down again to finish with the lunch box.

-/-/-

When the opening appeared again, it grew bigger, almost the size of the one she came through. Arya wasn’t sure of how long had passed between openings but she was pretty sure it had been more or less the same time.

She called for Gendry again, but no reply came back. “Oh, Gendry. This is the worst night to be late, babe.”

Arya had the intention of calling Gendry a few more times, however, she ran out of breath after the third try. The opening also took longer to close this time, but Arya was starting to have doubts about her perception of time, or maybe she was just tired.

-/-/-

She was starting to clear a space to build the foundation of her pile when she heard the snap. The opening was smaller, maybe a third of the last one. Arya prepared to yell, almost expecting to only receive silence as an answer, but she had to try anyway.

“Gendry!!!”

“Arya? Arya, where are you?”

Hearing Gendry’s voice made Arya want to cry of happiness and relief; she had to make an effort to speak clearly.

“I’m trapped.”

“Where?” Gendry was looking in every direction, trying to think of a place he didn’t check.

“This is going to sound crazy, but I swear it’s true.”

“OK, tell me.” Gendry expected to hear something wild, Arya could be unpredictable when she was bored, but he was not prepared for what she was about to tell him.

“I fell through a wall to a pocket dimension, or at least that’s what I think it is.”

“What?”

The shock on Gendry’s voice was noticeable for Arya, even from where she was. She surprised herself when her lips curved into a smile. It was funny how Gendry could make her smile even under stressful situations.

“I fell through a wall to a pocket dimension.”

This time Gendry took a few seconds to reply, obviously trying to make sense of what Arya said. “OK… OK, what wall?”

“Upstairs, right in front of the closet.”

Gendry ran upstairs. “I’m here, now what?”

“I’m not sure. Just touch the wall, it must… stop being solid at some point. Please be careful, I don’t want you to fall as well.”

“I will be.” Gendry paused and started running his hands across the wall. “Love, are you OK? Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine. I think I have a scratch on my knee, that’s all.”

“How long have you been there?”

“Like five minutes after I arrived.”

“I’m so sorry, love. I should have been here earlier, stupid job.”

“Don’t worry, babe. The important thing is that you’re here now.”

Gendry checked the wall from as high as he could reach going down to the floor, making sure he covered enough distance to the sides as well.

“Arya, this wall is completely solid and your voice sounds weaker up here.” Gendry sounded disappointed.

"Shit! Well, this thing has opened and closed a couple of times already; maybe it is in a different place.”

“Yeah, makes sense. Keep talking, I will try to follow your voice.”

“Right, what do I say?”

“Tell me how this happened.”

Arya described the incident as well as she could while Gendry slowly walked to the top of the stairs, touching the walls on both sides of the hallway as he moved. Arya stopped when he was going down the stairs.

“Love? What happened? Are you alright?”

Arya ran out of breath when she was finishing but tried to answer quickly, she didn’t want Gendry to worry more than necessary.

“Yeah, everything is fine, I’m just tired. I have to speak out loud so you are able to hear me.” Arya was starting to worry about the time; she didn’t know how long this opening would last.

Gendry knew he was close and he was right. A couple of seconds later, he saw how his left hand, that had been tracing the stairs wall until that moment, sank into nothingness as if the wall didn’t exist.

He retrieved his hand to look at it. “Wow! I think I found you, this is a proper portal!” Then Gendry sank his whole arm and waved in the other side. “Do you see my arm?”

“Yes!” Arya exclaimed with a happy voice, wondering how she managed to forget that word when she had one right in front of her. That made her smile again.

Gendry retrieved his arm and spoke directly to the wall. “Good! So, how do we do this? Can you walk to me?”

“No. It’s difficult to explain but… First thing, it is too small.”

Gendry quickly traced the edges of the portal with his hands. It was too small for a person to go through, even someone small like Arya would have trouble trying it. “Yeah, you’re right. But, how do I get you out then?”

“I think we have to wait.”

“Wait?” Gendry asked confused.

“Yeah, the size has been different with each portal. I think it’s random, we will have to wait until one big enough opens.”

“Fuck!” Gendry didn’t like that one bit.

“Yep, that’s exactly how I feel.”

Gendry sighed. “What else?”

“Well, to you this thing must be in a wall, right?”

“Yes.”

“Mmmm, it is above me here, well beyond my reach.”

“Yeah, that will complicate things.”

“I know. I have been trying to find things to stack up but it’s going slow, it’s pretty dark in here.”

“What kind of things?”

“Just stuff, the… Damn, it’s closing again.”

“What? No!” Gendry could feel his heart shrinking.

“It’s fine, Gendry, it will open again.”

“When?” Gendry asked, louder than he meant to.

“I’m not sure, an hour maybe. I feel like it is a bit more but I’m not sure.”

“OK… Look, this is probably going to sound weird but, are you safe? Is there anything that could represent a threat?

“It’s not weird and no, I’m alone.” Arya paused for a couple of seconds to breath. “It’s almost gone; I’ll call you as soon as it opens again.”

“I’ll be right here, waiting for you.” He gulped so his voice didn’t break. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

-/-/-

Arya’s voice disappeared and Gendry sat in one of the steps. He had managed to keep himself relatively calm until then, but now he was alone, his body reacted all at once.

Gendry started shaking, feeling anger, guilt, despair and fear, all at the same time. He had brought Arya to this house and now she was trapped where he couldn’t reach her, this whole thing was his fault! He put his hands on his face, emitted a deep, long groan and breathed deeply for around a minute until his protective instinct made him react. He had to get Arya out of there and knew exactly how.

The first thing Gendry did was going to the basement to take Mr Callahan’s rope to their lobby, making sure it didn’t touch any of the walls around it when he placed it on the floor, he didn’t want any accidents. Next, he went upstairs to clean the mess in the hallway; he wanted the area clear in case Arya came out through that wall. After finishing, he took his tape measure and some batteries from one of the shelves and closed the door.

Then, Gendry walked to their room to take one of Arya’s bags. It had a long strap she wore across her chest so she could have her hands free, which was exactly what Gendry thought she needed right now. It was also small, but with enough space for what Gendry wanted it.

-/-/-

The portal closed and Arya sighed. The distress and fear she had been holding were finally retreating, not completely, but she didn’t feel their overwhelming weight over her heart anymore and that was enough for now.

Arya coughed and massaged her throat, it felt sore and her mouth was dry. She gulped before coughing again; still trying to convince herself it was just the consequence of all the screaming, the cold and the lack of water.

Without thinking about it, Arya turned around to keep clearing a space in the actual ground, which turned out to be just jet black sand. A part of Arya felt disappointed not to find something more interesting.

Arya was so happy Gendry found her that it took her a few minutes to realise making a pile was not necessary anymore. Still, she needed her mind to be busy with something so she decided to keep doing it, if only to maintain her sanity.

After a while, Arya examined her work. It was not much, just a few objects arranged to create a small stool, but it was already tall enough to be seen over the mist so she was proud of it anyway.

Arya was about to start looking for more things when she heard a noise behind her. She jumped, freezing for a moment before turning around. A portal had opened just a couple of metres from her and something had fallen.

She took a couple of steps toward the other portal, being careful not to get too close. A long can of air freshener was rolling to one side to find its final resting place among thousands of other things.

“What an irony. This air is shit and an air freshener just drops on me.” Arya snorted and turned around again to go back to her pile and sit next to it. The good energy she was feeling a minute ago was gone.

-/-/-

By the time Gendry heard Arya’s voice again, he was sitting on the floor next to the rope, the tape measure and the bag. He had his phone in one hand and was staring at the clock. He jumped up immediately when he heard his name.

“Gendry!”

“I’m here, I’m here!” He replied, excited to hear his wife’s voice.

“Do I sound close?”

“Not exactly, but I’ve been thinking. Is there something you can throw out of the portal? It will be faster to find you if I’m looking for an object on the floor.”

“Yes! I didn’t think about that, wait!”

Arya looked down to take a perfume bottle from a pile, she had discarded it because it was round, but it was heavy enough to reach the portal. She prepared to throw, thanking all those nights of darts with her brothers for the good aim. The bottle flew through the light and disappeared behind it.

“A perfume bottle, look for a perfume bottle!” Arya yelled.

Gendry heard something falling in the back of the house, he immediately took the things he had gathered to go and investigate.

“I heard it, on my way!” He answered.

“Good.”

“So, what kind of stuff is around you?” Gendry asked to keep Arya talking.

While Arya explained what she found, including her hair brush and her theory about his screwdriver being there as well, Gendry looked in the study, then in the conservatory. He found the bottle under a table, which he put aside in a few seconds. Gendry searched the wall, finding the portal in less than a minute. This time it was lower, closer to the floor.

“Found you!” Gendry exclaimed to the wall, sitting in front of it and taking the tape measure to check the diameter of the portal. It was way too small for a person.

“That was fast!” Arya replied, pleased with how quickly Gendry had found her. She was already running out of breath.

“How are you?” Gendry asked. He didn’t say it, but he had noticed her breathing changing.

“Fine, just tired.” Arya lied.

Again, Gendry pretended he didn’t notice her breathing. “I have something to cheer you up a little bit.”

“What?”

“You’ll see.” Gendry quickly tied Arya’s bag to the end of the rope and pushed it through the portal. The space was limited, but he managed to do it without crashing the content.

Arya couldn’t help but smile when the bag appeared in the other side. She raised her arms when the rope lowered it enough for her to take it and placed it on her lap.

“I have it!” Arya announced so Gendry knew he could stop the rope.

When Gendry stopped lowering the rope, he noticed one of the lines made with indelible marker was very close to the portal. He remembered thinking that maybe Mr Callahan had a project, but couldn’t imagine at the time what it could be, certainly not this. Gendry looked at the marking for a few seconds, then turned his eyes to the wall to wait for Arya’s response.

In the other side, Arya untied the bag and opened it right away. It contained one of their metal water bottles, full to the top, the flashlight they kept in the kitchen, a package of extra batteries and a small container with two sandwiches. Arya felt her heart swell with love for Gendry, she had the best husband.

“Babe, thank you! You are a saviour!” Arya exclaimed with all the enthusiasm she could gather.

Gendry laughed. “Not at all, I’m just trying to make this whole thing a bit more comfortable for you. I could only squeeze two sandwiches but I made more if you want them.”

“This will be enough, thank you. Did you eat?”

Gendry hesitated before speaking. “Yes.”

“You are a terrible liar, Gendry Waters.” Arya knew him too well to be fooled by that.

“I’m not hungry.” He stopped for a moment before deciding to add the second sentence. “I can’t eat with you in there, I’ll wait.”

Arya could have argued, but Gendry wasn’t going to change his mind. Arya decided to drop it; it was not worth wasting their limited time on that. “Just try, OK?” She finally said.

“OK.” Then Gendry changed the topic. “Do you need something else? If it fits, I can send it in.”

Arya considered for a moment. “I could use a jumper.”

“Sure.” Gendry was already standing up. “Which one?”

“It doesn’t matter, just send something warm.”

“Back in a second.”

Gendry ran upstairs to take one of his hoodies. Arya liked wearing them during storms or when it was cold and he loved how tiny she looked on them.

As soon as he got back, he took the rope back. “Sending something in.” Then he proceeded to squeeze the hoodie through the portal.

The hoodie fell next to Arya and once she put it on, she felt a bit better. “This feels nice, thank you babe.”

They agreed to use the rope to lift Arya once the portal was big enough, then talked about Mr Callahan, having now a better understanding of what he was scared of. Arya ate while they talked, swallowing was uncomfortable but she was so hungry she did it anyway.

By the time the portal closed, a few minutes later, both were more relaxed, trusting everything was going to be OK. However, Gendry stayed there for at least another ten minutes, just sitting on the floor with his hand on the wall.

-/-/-

After eating and drinking something, Arya had a bit more energy and having the flashlight gave her some confidence to go a little further. She looked around and chose a random direction, deciding to go ahead from the place where her pile was.

Arya walked paying attention to the ground, looking for something that could be useful. She had just passed next to the closest portal at that moment when she saw something big shining to her left, not too far away from where she was.

She approached the place and her warning instincts lighted up immediately. It was not just one object she was looking at; there were at least a dozen pieces. All iridescent and with strange shapes, nothing about them was similar to any normal object she could think of. Arya dared to touch one, despite looking like some sort of metal; it felt like it was made of foam.

Arya stepped back and looked up. There was no portal at the moment, but she didn’t want to be anywhere near it when it opened again. Arya wasn’t a NASA scientist, but she was pretty sure those things were not from… around here.

Also, the air had a rancid smell there and felt thicker. Arya didn’t like any of it at all and knew she had to leave, but instead of going back to her original route, she walked parallel to it, just to get away from the place as soon as possible.

Arya was distracted, walking faster than she should have on a terrain with so many obstacles. She tripped over something and almost fell, but managed to regain her balance on time. Then she looked down to see what was on her way and nearly lost her balance again.

“Oh, shit!” Arya exclaimed, closing her free hand tight to channel the shock. She raised her fist to tap her forehead a few times, also closing her eyes for a moment and gulping. “For fuck’s sake!”

There was a full human skeleton in front of her. The clothes around the bones were broken in a few places and looked stiff. There was no way to know for sure but Arya thought they looked medieval, which meant this man had been here for centuries.

There were a few objects over the man and Arya knelt down to put them aside. That’s when she noticed there was a tear in his trousers. She lifted the fabric a little bit, only to discover the bone of his leg was broken.

“You were injured and couldn’t get out. You died here alone, I’m so sorry.” Arya spoke directly to the man despite knowing he couldn’t hear her anymore.

Arya stood up and looked for her little stool; she wasn’t that far from it. She walked there to take the shirt she had found hours ago and went back to the man. Arya placed the shirt over his face and upper body, feeling sorry she couldn't do more.

“I’m sorry.” Arya stayed there for one more moment, then walked back to her stool.

She sat, feeling a sadness she wasn’t expecting to feel in that place. She had managed to block the thought of a person or an animal dying in there up until that point, but seeing the bones of that man forced her to confront the very real danger of the place.

If something had gone wrong and she had been badly injured or if Gendry hadn’t hear her, she would be in a very bad situation. Despite the burn she felt in her throat and chest and being more and more tired, Arya was lucky Gendry knew where she was and getting out of there was just a matter of time.

She was planning to turn off the flashlight for a while to make the batteries last longer but she couldn’t bring herself to do it after that.

Instead, Arya started putting everything she found against her little stool to give it some support. By the time the portal opened again, she was leaning against the now little mountain to be able to have some rest.

-/-/-

The portal opened in their bedroom this time. Arya tried to send something to the other side, but the opening was too small and no matter how good her aim was, the things she threw bounced around the opening and flied back to the ground. Fortunately, Gendry was already used to hear Arya’s voice coming from that room in particular and was able to locate her in a couple of minutes.

Arya considered not telling Gendry about the weird objects and the man, but she couldn’t keep it inside her, not while she was in there. Gendry listened without interrupting her until she was done.

“I’m so sorry you had to see that, love. I wish I could just bring you here and hold you.”

“Me too, this is exhausting.”

“You sound exhausted and… well, sick. You sound sicker every time we talk.

Again, Arya considered lying, but decided against it. She wasn’t in the position to hide this from her husband anymore.

“I’m not feeling well. My throat and chest hurt, breathing is getting harder and I’m so tired. I think there’s something wrong with the air.”

“Hold on love, please. I’m getting you out as soon as this thing lets me.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” Arya tried to be funny, but it made Gendry’s heart shrink again.

The portal closed and Gendry stayed there, standing in front of the wall with his forehead against it and his eyes closed, imploring every single god he could think of to let him bring his wife back to safety on time.

-/-/-

Arya was getting worse. Breathing was not only harder but it was already starting to be painful. She felt dizzy and if not because she managed to build that little mountain where she could lean, she would be on the ground, surrounded by mist and lost objects.

She was fighting the need to close her eyes when the portal opened again and it was tiny, like the first one she saw opening. Arya knew throwing something was useless, so she just yelled as loud as her throat allowed her to. She knew this portal wasn’t going to last long.

Gendry stood in the lobby with his eyes closed; Arya’s voice was low and somehow muted. He opened his eyes and ran to the basement carrying all his things. His hunch was correct, she was there.

They could only talk for three minutes and Arya sounded like she was barely conscious. Gendry was already desperate to get to her, but now he was also worried to death about her health and absolutely terrified by the possibility of not being able to reach her before it was too late.

“Arya, please, try not to fall asleep.” Gendry was trying to speak calmly.

“I’m trying, but it’s difficult.” Arya’s voice was so weak; Gendry was having trouble hearing her. “It’s closing again.”

A tear fell down his cheek and Gendry said the only thing he thought was important to tell Arya before he lost her again behind that damn portal.

“I love you more than anything in this world.”

“I love y…” And the portal closed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was fun to write, I hope it was fun to read as well.
> 
> Give me your thoughts, please and thank you for reading!


	3. Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gendry calls for help and Arya's time is running out.

Gendry shouted at the top of his lungs while hitting the wall as if by cracking it, he would be able to bring back the portal. When his lungs ran out of air, he slid his palms down the wall until he knelt on the floor, putting his forehead against the wall between his hands. The heat he felt from the redness on his face and the blood in his knuckles allowed him to control the tears, which were already falling on the dusty floor.

Once Gendry recovered his ability to think, he realised he was wasting time. He stood up, cleaned his eyes with his arm and rushed upstairs, already searching for a number on his phone. Gendry pressed ‘Call’ as soon as he found it, not caring about how late it was. For a few seconds he thought he wasn’t going to receive an answer, but after a click, he finally heard a sleepy voice in the other side of the line.

“H’llo?”

“Hot Pie! Wake up, I need your help!” Gendry exclaimed without any kind of greetings.

“Now? What the fuck mate, it’s late.” Hot Pie was still speaking with a low tone, but he sounded more awake.

Gendry sighed to reply with a calm but determined voice. “Hot Pie, listen to me. Arya is in trouble and she doesn’t have much more time left. I need you to get out of bed, take your car and go pick up Lommy, then come to my house as fast as you can. Can you please do that for me?”

That seemed to do the trick because when Hot Pie spoke again, he sounded fully awake. “What do you mean trouble? Is Arya hurt?”

“Not exactly, I’ll tell you when you get here but right now we don’t have much time.” Gendry hoped that was enough to make Hot Pie move.

“OK mate, on my way. Is Lommy aware I’m coming?”

“I’m calling him now.”

“Right, we’ll see you in a bit.”

As soon as the line was free, Gendry made the second call. Lommy listened to what his friend had to say and agreed to wait for Hot Pie with a sleepy voice.

Gendry put the phone in his pocket and returned to the basement to carry the rope and the tape measure back to the lobby, then walked to the bathroom to clean himself. He slowly washed his face and hands, getting rid of the traces of tears and blood.

He took the time to disinfect his wounds. Not because he wanted to prevent infection, but because by doing so, he could focus for five more minutes in something else, instead of the fear crushing his heart.

Once his hands were ready, Gendry raised his gaze to stare at the mirror. He looked tired and pale, even the brightness of the blue in his eyes seemed drained. After a few seconds, he sighed and looked away to walk out of the bathroom.

-/-/-

Hot Pie and Lommy arrived not long after that, tired but ready to help. Gendry explained the situation as clearly as possible, trying to not complicate things more than necessary and hoping they didn’t believe he had gone mad.

By the time Gendry finished talking, both Hot Pie and Lommy had shown signs of confusion, disbelief and utter terror. Hot Pie was the first to speak and, to Gendry’s relief, not to insinuate he needed to see a doctor.

“So, Arya is trapped behind a portal like the one in that series where the girl has to fight the monsters from the other side?”

Gendry hesitated for a second before answering. “Ah… Well, there are no monsters with Arya, which I’m grateful for, now you mention it. But yeah, she is in the other side of a portal.”

“And you say she is sick already?” Lommy asked. He still looked like he was trying to process the information, but was willing to believe Gendry as well.

This time Gendry had an answer prepared. “Yes, the last time we talked she was for real not feeling well, she already sounded weak. I fear next time the portal opens she will be too weak to guide us to her or even worse, she could be unconscious.”

“So we might need to find the portal ourselves.” Hot Pie nodded, understanding what his friend needed.

“Yeah.” Gendry took a deep breath to continue. “Find it; if it is big enough I go in to get her and you lift us.”

“Do you know when the portal will open next?”

“I’ve been taking notes about that; I don’t think they are 100% accurate but...” Gendry took out his phone to open the notepad. “If the portal follows the same pattern, in about 8 to 10 minutes. I say we wait until 10, then we search.”

“Who searches where?” Lommy was already looking around, getting ready to start.

Gendry, again, was ready to answer. “I’ll take the rooms upstairs. Lommy, you take the backyard, the conservatory, the downstairs bathroom and the study. Hot Pie, the basement, the living room, the dining room and the kitchen. Whoever finishes first, goes to check the lobby and don’t forget about the hallways around the rooms.”

“Sounds good to me.” Lommy replied while nodding.

Hot Pie approached to put his hand on Gendry’s shoulder. “We’re gonna find her, mate.”

Gendry managed a small smile to tank his friend. “I know.”

-/-/-

A minute before the set time, they walked to their starting spot to get ready. Everyone agreed to call Arya every time they entered and exited a room instead of constantly, only to avoid missing her voice between the screams of three adult men. Gendry had one last thing to say before giving the signal to start.

“Don’t worry about the mess. Move things, drag furniture, I don’t care. Let’s just find that thing.” A few seconds later, Gendry said just one more word. “Go!”

Gendry had made sure both Hot Pie and Lommy knew how to look so he could focus all his attention on the rooms he had to search. He went to his and Arya’s bedroom first and called her name, then checked the wall where the portal appeared before but it was not there. He went from wall to wall; moving the furniture to be able to stick his hand behind and make sure the portal was not there.

As he continued his way, Gendry could hear the noises of the others around the house. Lommy finishing the backyard and moving to the conservatory. Later, Hot Pie getting out of the basement and going to the living room.

At some point, Gendry started wondering if it had been the right decision to only call two people to help him. He felt like every room was taking an eternity, to him and to the others. The thought of Arya not being able to make it because they couldn’t find the portal on time terrified him beyond words.

If only her siblings had been in the Stormlands instead of all the way back in the North. They would most likely kill him for allowing this to happen but at least they would be there to help.

Gendry forced himself to push the thought away as he finished the upstairs bathroom. He moved slowly down the hallway, making sure to check the walls on both sides. Gendry arrived to the first spare room three minutes before hearing Lommy moving to the downstairs bathroom and only a minute later, Hot Pie’s voice came out of the dining room.

As the minutes passed without news, Gendry’s fear grew to a painful level. If not because he was focused on the task in front of him, he would have probably lost it by now.

Gendry was already checking the first wall on the second spare room when he heard Lommy calling Arya from the study; Hot Pie was in the kitchen not long after that. Those were their last rooms. There was still a chance in the lobby but the time could be running out and Gendry was desperately aware of that.

Without stopping his search, Gendry visualized Arya’s face in his head, as if he could summon her by doing that. Then he whispered a few words, whishing with all his heart she could hear him somehow.

“Please love, please. Let me find you.”

-/-/-

Arya opened her eyes feeling disoriented; it took her a few seconds to remember where she was. The portal was open above her, who knows for how long and she didn’t notice. Arya was dizzy but the thought of Gendry looking for her out there, without a clue of where she was, made her try to clear her head enough to call him.

She tried to yell, only managing to produce a broken whisper. The pain on her throat and chest was worse. Arya knew she wouldn’t make it to the next time the portal opened; she needed to do something to alert Gendry.

Arya moved her hand to take one of the objects she had left next to her, ready to throw. A sock half filled with marbles was the first one she found. She grabbed it, raised her arm and threw it to the light.

The sock made it half the way before its trajectory curved, sending it back to the floor, where it got lost somewhere in the dark in front of her.

Arya closed her eyes for a moment, then took the next object, a small decorative lantern she had filled with a few objects to give it weight. She threw it, trying to aim better and giving it more impulse. The lantern travelled higher, but in the end, it also got lost in the dark.

“Shit!” Arya would have wanted to scream but she wasn’t in the condition to even try.

Arya took the next object, the last one before she had to go looking for more, and that was not a possibility anymore. She looked at it, an old work boot in remarkable good condition and with the right weight to throw it comfortably.

She made the effort to sit, then focused all the energy she had left on that last chance. Arya aimed carefully and threw the boot straight to the light.

The boot flew higher and higher until it reached the light, disappearing behind it. Arya half expected to see the boot falling back, but it didn’t. She was already gasping, so she allowed her body to lie down again.

“Boot!” Arya managed to whisper before the dizziness took control of her head.

-/-/-

Lommy was checking his second wall in the study, running his hand behind a partially moved bookshelf, when he heard a single ‘Knock’ behind him. He turned around expecting to see Gendry or Hot Pie standing at the door but no one was there. Lommy thought it was possible one of them made a noise that carried to where he was, but it had sounded too close. He decided it was worth investigating.

He approached the wall in the other side of the room and started checking the area between the door and the first bookshelf. When Lommy was near the floor, he saw a boot stuck between the back of the bookshelf and the wall. He got it out almost effortlessly, in a way that would have been impossible if the wall had been solid. Lommy put the boot aside and tried to touch the wall, only to see his fingers disappear through it.

“Ahhhhh!” Lommy breathed.

He turned to get closer to the door, not even bothering on standing up.

“It’s here!!! It’s in the study!!!” Lommy yelled as loud as he could.

Gendry ran so fast it seemed like he was at the study in only three seconds. Lommy pointed to the right place and got up to help with the bookshelf, but Gendry was so full of adrenaline he moved it as if it had been made of cardboard.

Hot Pie entered the room carrying the rope and the tape measure and Gendry immediately took it to check the size of the portal.

“It is big enough for one.” Gendry’s voice sounded between relieved and anxious. Then he took the end of the rope and proceeded to tie it around his own torso while he kept talking. “I’m sending Arya first. If she needs immediate help focus on her, it doesn’t matter if the portal closes. I can stay there if necessary.” Gendry looked like he wasn’t going to take objections, so the others didn’t even try.

Hot Pie and Lommy held the rope, nodding to let Gendry know they were ready as he introduced his feet through the wall. Gendry took a deep breath and slid inside.

-/-/-

As soon as he was in the other side, Gendry had to close his eyes to adjust to the new environment. Once he could open them, he looked down to search for Arya and his heart froze when he saw how still her body was.

“Arya!” Gendry called her as he reached the ground and knelt next to her.

Arya turned her head and opened her eyes. “You came for me.” Her voice was only a whisper, Gendry could barely hear her.

“Of course I came for you, gorgeous.” Gendry caressed Arya’s cheek, then looked up and spoke louder. “I’m down guys, give me a minute!”

Gendry proceeded to untie the rope. It took him just a few seconds to undo the knot, but he felt as if it had been an eternity. Once he was free, he got closer to Arya again.

“Can you sit?” Gendry asked, offering his arms.

He thought Arya might try to do it alone, but to his relief, she accepted the help without protesting and leaned against his leg.

“The flashlight.” Arya pointed to the cylinder, only partially inside the bag she was already wearing.

Gendry put the flashlight inside the bag and closed it, then started tying the rope around Arya. “Hot Pie and Lommy are up there, they will help you to get out.” After making sure the knot would support her weight, Gendry lifted Arya in his arms.

Arya leaned on Gendry’s chest, automatically feeling safer. “Come with me.”

“It’s too small for the both of us, love. You will have to go first. Just hold the rope, they will be ready.”

Arya didn’t like it but knew it was not the time to argue. “OK.” She took the rope as firmly as she could and nodded.

“Guys! Arya is ready!” Gendry called.

From the other side, Hot Pie’s voice answered. “OK mate! One, two, three!” And the rope started moving.

Gendry held Arya until she was too high for him to reach her, he watched her getting closer to the light and raise one of her hands to pass it through the portal once she was underneath it.

-/-/-

Both Hot Pie and Lommy watched Arya’s arm materialize from the wall, followed by her head and her other arm. Arya tried to impulse herself to get out, but was having trouble doing it and Hot Pie prepared to move.

“Lommy, hold the rope, I need to help Arya.”

“Go!” His friend answered at once.

Hot Pie let go of the rope and approached Arya. He took her by the armpits and pulled her body out. Arya’s feet were still stuck inside, so Hot Pie had to leave her on the floor to go get her feet out.

Once she was outside, Hot Pie lifted Arya to take her to the side of the desk behind them, where she could sit and have some rest. Hot Pie evaluated Arya while he untied her, remembering what Gendry said before going in.

“I’m gonna have to take you to the hospital, Arry.” Hot Pie didn’t like the way Arya was desperately breathing, but she wasn’t having any of that.

“No… Get Gendry… I just need to breathe.”

Arya looked straight at Hot Pie and nodded to convince him she was telling the truth. He decided to listen to her, Hot Pie knew both Arya and Gendry would do anything to make sure the other was safe and arguing was pretty much useless at that moment.

Hot Pie finished with the knot and rushed back to the wall, where he had to put his own arm through the portal to get enough of the rope inside and let it fall.

“Arya is safe, mate! Your turn!” Hot Pie exclaimed to the wall.

-/-/-

Gendry waited until Arya disappeared in the other side of the portal to lower his gaze and have a look around. Despite having Arya’s description fresh in his mind, he was astonished by the view. His first thought was that he was grateful Arya didn’t encounter something dangerous that would have made things worse.

The sea of portals in every direction, along with the endless layer of lost things was both beautiful and terrifying. Gendry even wondered what they could have found if the situation had been different, if they had been able to come in and out easily and the air hadn’t been toxic.

Gendry looked down to see the pile of things Arya had abandoned after she managed to get his attention. The size made his heart ache, if they hadn’t been able to communicate, Arya wouldn’t have had time to build something tall enough to get out. Gendry gulped and looked up again.

He couldn’t distinguish any loud voices, which was probably a good thing, if something was wrong he would know it by now. Gendry took out his phone to check the time. Judging by the size of the portal, he was more or less sure they still had a few minutes, or at least Gendry hoped so.

To his surprise, the screen was glitching, producing a distorted image full of static interference. He was able to see the clock just four times and only for a fraction of a second. 2:37, 00:19, 18:64 and back to 2:17, clearly normal technology was of no use on this side. Gendry shook his head while blocking the phone to put it in his pocket again and as he did, Hot Pie’s voice came out of the light.

“Arya is safe, mate! Your turn!”

“Thank the Gods!” Gendry sighed with relief and received the rope. “Let me get this around me, wait!” He tied himself as fast as he could and called Hot Pie again. “Ready when you are, mate!”

Hot Pie and Lommy counted again and the rope moved. Lifting Gendry took longer, he wished there was a way to help his friends but with nothing around him to support his weight, he could only hope they made it on time.

Just like a curse, as Gendry was reaching the light, the portal flickered and the edges started moving, making the opening smaller.

‘Fuck!’ Gendry thought. He had to hurry or the portal could trap him or worse, sever him.

Gendry’s arms appeared in the other side of the portal searching for support. His right hand found the wall and his left, the floor. Gendry pushed with all his strength, managing to get half of his body out.

“Help, it’s closing!” Gendry exclaimed and both his friends dropped the rope to approach him.

With their help, Gendry’s legs were out in a few seconds. He stayed on the floor only for a moment before searching the room for Arya and moving in her direction.

Arya tried to stand but Gendry sat next to her against the desk and she ended up just sitting between his legs, leaning the side of her face on his chest to be able to hear his heart. She was still breathing heavily but the rhythm of her inhaling and exhaling was already closer to the one of a person who had just finished an exercise session and having Gendry holding her made her feel even better.

“How are you, love?” Gendry asked, putting a lock of hair behind her ear.

“Much better.” Arya closed her eyes, finally allowing herself to relax.

Gendry raised his gaze; their friends looked like they were still trying to understand the events of the night, but were happy to see everything went well.

“Thank you.” Gendry’s voice was low but full of gratitude.

Hot Pie and Lommy nodded, getting the full meaning behind Gendry’s words.

As Gendry turned his attention back to Arya, Lommy stepped closer to the wall and carefully touched its surface, it was solid again. The portal had unceremoniously closed, leaving only an old boot as proof of its existence.

****

**A FEW WEEKS LATER**

Gendry opened the door of their newly rented flat, trying not to drop the box containing a few of their belongings and a big bag with Chinese food.

“Arya, I’m back, brought dinner!” He exclaimed to the tiny place.

“Yay! I’m starving,” Arya’s voice came out of their room.

Gendry put the box in the table and was about to take the bag with food when Arya walked out, carrying a bigger box half full of crumpled newspaper. She raised it above her head with triumph.

“Last one! We’ve officially moved.” Then proceeded to throw the box on their sofa and turn around to welcome Gendry home with a kiss.

“Good, how much of our stuff do we have to throw away?” Gendry joked, holding Arya closer to him.

Arya slapped Gendry’s shoulder. “Don’t be dramatic, it’s a bit tight but we’ll be fine.”

“I know. I just wanted the next move to be the last one, to our own home, not another stop.”

“We’ll be in the middle of that one in no time, you’ll see. And speaking of moving, is that what we left behind at Hot Pie’s place?” Arya asked, peeking inside the box.

“Yes, he says Hi, but I must admit he looked happy we are not invading his space anymore.”

“Poor guy, we will have to get him something nice for allowing us to stay in his flat.”

“Oh, yeah.” Gendry agreed, nodding. Then he asked what he had on his mind. “By the way, how was your appointment with the doctor?”

“Great, the x-rays came out clear, my lungs are clean again.” And as to prove it, Arya took a deep breath and gave him a big smile.

Gendry smiled back; relieved they could finally leave that horrible night behind. “That’s the best news I've heard in weeks.” He kissed Arya, enjoying the feeling of her lips against his.

After a long moment Gendry broke the kiss but stayed close to Arya, speaking in a playful tone. “Let’s attack that food, what do you say?”

Arya replied with a similar tone. “I say let’s do it.”

Gendry quickly kissed Arya’s forehead, letting go of her waist so they could have dinner.

****

**FIN**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As far as I'm concerned, this is the canon ending and that's final.
> 
> However, an alternate ending crept up on me while I was writing this and didn't leave me alone until I wrote it. Fair warning, it's NOT a happy ending, but if you want to read it, you can do it [HERE](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25162432).
> 
> If not... As always, thank you so much for reading!!!
> 
> Please, let me know what you think about this story!
> 
> You can also find me on [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/incognitostarkbaratheon).

**Author's Note:**

> So, this one is my first attempt to science fiction, I hope you like it!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!
> 
> Please, let me know what you think of the first part.


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